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The insurer has also increased additional payments for
Critical Illness Extra (CIx), which is only available via intermediaries, from
a maximum of £30,000 or 25% to £30,000 or 50% of the amount of cover, whichever
is lower. It has added additional payments for coronary angioplasty, brain
abscess drained via craniotomy, primary sclerosing cholangitis and necrotising
fasciitis.

Legal & General has extended its children’s cover to
include more conditions. If CCIx is purchased with either CI or CIx, cover will
be extended to include all conditions covered under Critical Illness Cover,
Critical Illness Extra and Children’s Critical Illness Extra. Previously,
Children’s Critical Illness Extra has only included conditions listed under
Critical Illness and CCIx.

Improvements have been made to definitions around liver
failure by removing the drug and alcohol exclusion and major organ transplants
which now include artificial devices or animal transplants. Coverage on pulmonary
hypertension has also been extended to cover all causes, assuming policyholders
meet the specified New York Heart Association classifications.

Craig Brown (pictured), director of intermediary at Legal & General, said quality over quantity is important.

“These latest changes improve the level of cover we offer
to customers, but also reduce the complexity of critical illness products. We
think that will make it easier for advisers to have those important protection
conversations and explain these products to clients, while also giving
consumers much more certainty over the support they have if and when they need
it,” he stated.

Alan Lakey, director of CIExpert, said the changes
provide the triple benefits of reducing complexity, reducing condition numbers
and enhancing the prospect of a successful claim.

Adam Higgs, head of research at Protection Guru,
added: “The addition of a coronary angioplasty definition to the
comprehensive proposition is extremely valuable as these procedures become more
common place and the widening of their pulmonary hypertension definition to
include all forms of pulmonary hypertension – including secondary causes from
lung and heart disease – is market leading.”